Boko Haram

Boko Haram, which means in English “Western education is forbidden”, is also known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād and more recently Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).

It is based in northeastern Nigeria, but also perpetrated attacks in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso. The group is one of Daesh´s allies and seeks to establish a caliphate in Nigeria. It was founded by the Salafist cleric Mohammed Yusuf, who reportedly received funding from Osama bin Laden in the early 2000s. He died in 2009 and the new leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared jihad against the Nigerian Government and the United States in 2010.

The group became worldwide known after the abduction of nearly 300 girls in April 2014. In 2015, the group has killed more than 5.000 people, including approximately 2.000 civilians that lived in the town of Baga.

RECRUITMENT

Since March 2010, Boko Haram has been receiving military training, funding and media training from Daesh and, according to Counter Extremism Project, it had abducted 10.000 boys between 2014 and 2016 to train them as soldiers. People from other countries have joined Boko Haram, but this movement seems to be lower than the one verified with Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

MEDIA STRATEGIES

Just like Daesh, Boko Haram has produced small videos and used the Internet and instant message applications for recruitment and to give instructions to their followers. Some of the videos use a wide range of visual effects and sounds to attract people´s attention.